Equity School Partnership Network Program – Buriram Trip to Sensirianusorn School

On November 6th the Bangkok Prep – Buriram equity team: Phurich, Mumu, Nammon, Ken, Ploy and myself (Pyncha), along with Ms. Arora and Mr. Kumar set off to the northeast of Thailand to visit Sensirianusorn school to collaborate on developing our product for the Equity Partnership’s School Network competition.

On arrival at the school, they greeted us with a warm welcome, and gave us each a flower brooch that they had carefully crafted from dried leaves. We were very lucky as during the trip we were supported by many members of the EEF (equitable education fund) team and JD central who advised and guided us on the process of developing a new product. The first session of the day was dedicated to brainstorming a product. Even though we had just met the students at the Buriram School, we immediately got along, and together decided on the idea of a bouquet of fragranced flowers. We decided we wanted to implicate the concept of ‘nature’ and ‘upcycling’ into our product, as the raw materials for our product are simply leaves that have fallen from rubber trees (which is a common tree in this area). Therefore, we wanted to create a bouquet of flowers in natural colours to show that everyday items we see lying on the ground that might be perceived as useless (eg. leaves), can be transformed into something beautiful that can be reused forever!

In the afternoon, the students at Buriram showed us the procedures of their production line. Firstly, we went through the process of selecting suitable leaves to use. Next, we had to boil it in hot water for about 3 hours. The next step was everyone’s favourite: we had to remove the pigments from the leaves using toothbrushes by brushing the leaves in a circular motion. Then we had to leave the leaves to dry, in the meantime, we experimented with making new colours with the dye to use for the flowers. The Bangkok Prep team was amazed by the dedication and hard work the Buriram students devoted to producing the flowers, as after the demonstration, we realized how long it took to make each leaf. Their team consists of only 3 students, yet they have already managed to create an astonishing amount! The many hours they have spent in their free time to work on this project is admirable, and the Bangkok Prep Equity team feel very grateful to get to work with such a great team.

Even though we will not get to see the students at Buriram again until December, we have divided the roles, and are working on different aspects in order to bring it all together in the end. The Buriram team will be continuing on producing the flowers for the finished product, whereas the Bangkok Prep team will start carrying out market research and developing marketing strategies on various platforms to advertise our product. We hope you will be interested in buying our product in the near future, as not only will you receive a sweet-smelling flower that brightens your home and brings a smile on everyone’s face, but the money will also be contributed to developing the Thai schools in further provinces!

Written by: Pyncha Soottreenart (Y11EP)

Project leader: Miss Arora